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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26542129">Cave In</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/laneypenn/pseuds/laneypenn'>laneypenn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 1991), DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, POV Outsider, fenton and huey have no idea whats going on with darkwing and his squad, this is also a huey sidekick au which is fun, wrote this a while back so it does feel a bit like '91 darkwing and '17 gizmoduck</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:07:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,563</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26542129</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/laneypenn/pseuds/laneypenn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Fenton and Huey can't fathom how Darkwing seems to hate a child so much. The Quiverwing Quack can be loudmouthed and rude, but Darkwing is even worse than her. Maybe they're too alike to get along.<br/>Or maybe there's something else to it that they'd never guess. Who knows?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Drake Mallard &amp; Gosalyn Mallard, Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera &amp; Gosalyn Mallard, Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera &amp; Huey Duck, Huey Duck &amp; Drake Mallard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>116</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Cave In</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> Beep, beep, beep, beep... </em>
</p>
<p>The first thing Gizmoduck heard upon waking up was the quiet beeping in his ears. It almost felt like he was being woken up by an alarm clock, but the pain in his head stirred him into trying to move and remember what he was doing.</p>
<p>
  <em> Beep, beep, beep, beep... </em>
</p>
<p>The beeps continued, and Gizmoduck turned on the night vision function when he realized that he wasn't <em> blind, </em>it was just dark. He sat up awkwardly, then clumsily got to his wheel and stood up straight.</p>
<p>He remembered now. He and Widgetling (his young sidekick - Huey Duck under the helmet) were in St. Canard. </p>
<p>They were helping Darkwing Duck collect evidence after an attack from a villain Wingy said he <em> knew for a fact! </em> was Moliarty. Wingy wanted nothing to do with his tagalongs, including another hero who wasn’t aligned with Gizmoduck or Darkwing in any way.</p>
<p>Quiverwing Quack was a kid, thirteen or maybe fourteen at most, and Darkwing seemed to <em> hate </em> her. Every time Gizmoduck saw them interacting, Darkwing would growl, “Shouldn't you be <em> doing homework, young lady?” </em> or something condescending like that, and he was pretty sure he'd seen Quiverwing kick Darkwing in the shins at least twice.</p>
<p>The girl was far more popular than Darkwing, and Gizmoduck suspected that was the reason that he hated her so much. He liked to believe that he could read his hero buddy pretty well - he was a jealous type, and he didn’t get along with anyone more popular than him.</p>
<p>
  <em> Beep, beep, beep, beep... </em>
</p>
<p>Gizmoduck thought Quiverwing was cute in the same way Huey was cute. She liked being a hero and she was good at it. As long as she was being careful and not throwing herself into dangerous situations, there was no need to try to stop her. </p>
<p>He’d tried to talk to Darkwing about his behavior towards Quiverwing a couple times, but the conversations usually ended the moment Gizmoduck started them. He’d change the subject or snap that he had somewhere else to be, or, on a particularly somber night, he just said, “Giz, you don’t understand… Anything,” and left.</p>
<p>No matter how rude Darkwing was to the girl, though, she would still tag along on some of his missions or patrols. It could be that she was just as competitive, or maybe she even looked up to him… It was hard to say.</p>
<p>
  <em> Beep, beep, beep, beep… </em>
</p>
<p>They had been in the tunnels that were dug out by someone (“Moliarty, his name is Moliarty - Like, like a mole? He’s a mole, Giz, he digs out tunnels and tries to cause sinkholes - Whatever!”) and Widgetling was moving ahead of everyone else, trying to get away from Darkwing and Quiverwing’s incessant arguing.</p>
<p>Darkwing paused in the middle of a snarky quip, holding up a finger and pushing onwards, ahead of Gizmoduck. “Claw marks,” he mumbled, kneeling down beside a wall. “Everyone, stay still.”</p>
<p>“Why?” Quiverwing asked, crossing her arms. “So you can run forward and -”</p>
<p>Then the stone around them started to creak and Gizmoduck saw Darkwing’s flashlight fly forward before there was a loud <em> crack </em> and the cave fell in.</p>
<p>
  <em> Beep, beep, beep, beep... </em>
</p>
<p>Getting his bearings, Gizmoduck stumbled into a standing position on his wheel and decided any pain he was feeling could be dealt with after he found Darkwing and the others. He had a headache, probably from getting bonked upside the head the way he was. </p>
<p>
  <em> Beep, beep, beep, beep… </em>
</p>
<p>What was that n-- oh, no. Gizmoduck looked around. Where was Widgetling?</p>
<p>The beeping was a caution for Gizmoduck. If Widgetling was hurt, Gizmoduck's suit would beep so he knew about it. That way, Widgetling wouldn't be able to hide any of his injuries.</p>
<p>Widgetling usually disabled the alarm, but it never went off for no reason. Widgey had to be hurt. </p>
<p>Gizmoduck looked around frantically and started rolling across the tunnel. “Widgetling?? Widgey! Where are you?! Widge-?”</p>
<p>He froze when he saw her. Quiverwing was splayed out, trapped under cracked rock and dirt, and Gizmoduck could see wet blood on her face. Her hat laid ahead of her head, crushed under a rock.</p>
<p>Gizmoduck started to lift the largest rock on her, one that was trapping her ankle underneath it. “Quiverwing? Wake up, wake up… Please wake up…” He moved the rock, then leaned over her and brushed her bangs away from her forehead so he could look at her head. </p>
<p>She shifted and a croaky sound escaped her beak. “Dad?”</p>
<p>Gizmoduck's heart tightened. She was just a little girl. He knew that she was just a little girl, but he often forgot what that really meant… </p>
<p>This was a terrible reminder. </p>
<p>“No… I-it's me, Gizmoduck. The tunnel, it caved in. Are you okay? Can you understand me? How many fingers am I holding -”</p>
<p>“Two,” Gizmoduck grimaced, holding up three fingers, as Quiverwing sat up. “I'm fine. Just a headache. Where's Darkwing?”</p>
<p>“You're the first person I found…? But we'll find him! Don't worry!” Gizmoduck amended his statement quickly. “I'm sure he's in the tunnels too. We could go look or we could stay here and -”</p>
<p>“I'm going to look,” Quiverwing said, starting to push herself to her feet. </p>
<p>“H-hold on, Quingy, you’re bleeding -” he tried to keep her from standing, but she yelped in pain and crumbled back to the ground. “What's wrong??”</p>
<p>“...M-” she took a deep breath and Gizmoduck felt his chest tighten again when he realized she was starting to cry. “M-my foot. My ankle… Fuck. Fuck, fuck…”</p>
<p>“L-language,” Gizmoduck stuttered. Quiverwing glared at him. “...Sorry. You're… That's probably fine.”</p>
<p>Quiverwing rubbed her beak with the back of her wrist, sniffling. “Nah, my dad would say the same thing,” she rubbed her eyes, “He hates when I fucking cuss.”</p>
<p>Gizmoduck was glad the visor didn't let her see that his eyes were extremely wide open. He cautiously leaned forward, holding his arms out. “If you want, I can carry you…?”</p>
<p>Quiverwing hesitated. He thought maybe she was weighing her tough girl persona against her pain.</p>
<p>She pulled herself up with his arm, and he lifted her into his arms. She pressed a hand to his chestplate. “Do you know any way we could figure out where Darkwing is?” Her voice was quiet, tiny. <em> She </em>was tiny. </p>
<p>“I’m not sure,” Gizmoduck forced his voice to sound confident and smooth. He wanted to comfort Quiverwing in any way he could. “But he can’t be far away. We’ll find him.”</p>
<p>He decided not to ask why she’d want to see Darkwing when they seemed to dislike each other so much.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The first thing Widgetling was aware of upon waking was someone grunting. The second thing was the strangling pain in his chest.</p>
<p>He gasped for air, but he couldn’t breathe. His chest hurt. His throat hurt with the effort. His eyes hurt with tears. </p>
<p>“God, dammit,” the grunting voice spoke, and the pressure on Widgetling’s chest subsided for a moment, then squeezed back down. </p>
<p>He opened his eyes and looked around. The room was -- Well, this wasn’t a room. It looked like a cave? It was dimly lit. He could see the silhouette of a duck, and quickly knew who it was.</p>
<p>“Dah-Darkwing -” He coughed. His chest hurt.</p>
<p>“Widge! Is there a fast way to get your suit off?!” Darkwing demanded. Widgetling wanted to be mad at him for being rude, but he had a feeling that he knew something he didn’t. </p>
<p>He struggled to talk. “R-remote - Off button -” Widgetling gasped again. He pushed a button on his suit, revealing a pocket. A small remote fell out of it.</p>
<p>Darkwing didn’t even hesitate to pick it up and push the button, and Huey realized the moment the suit came off that he wasn’t able to breathe because it was dented. </p>
<p>He gasped in air, coughing at the dust, trying to breathe. It was irregular. He couldn’t inhale or exhale, even without his suit crushing his chest. </p>
<p>He started to panic. He can’t breathe. It’s impossible. He can’t breathe. <em> He can’t breathe. </em></p>
<p>Darkwing put a mask over his beak and started to pump air directly into Huey’s throat, glaring intensely at him as he did. “You’re okay. Breathe.”</p>
<p>He wasn’t able to respond that he didn’t have much choice, what with Darkwing forcing him to breathe with an air mask over his face. </p>
<p>Darkwing stopped after a minute, pulling the mask away. “Can you breathe?”</p>
<p>Huey coughed. “Y-yes.”</p>
<p>Darkwing sighed and fell backwards. Huey took a couple more deep breaths, swallowing, trying to make his throat feel less dry. Darkwing was breathing heavily now, his hat held over his chest. He looked angry at first glance, but Huey squinted and fumbled to locate his flashlight, to get a better look at the older hero’s face.</p>
<p>When he flicked the light on, Darkwing hissed, and Huey’s eyes were drawn to the spreading puddle of red on his coat and cape. He gasped. “Are you bleeding?! Darkwing!”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Darkwing laid down on his side, his cheek pressed against his shoulder. “Rock stuck into my hip. Crushed my leg.”</p>
<p>“You have to stop the bleeding!” Huey stumbled to his side, painfully aware that he was clearly not a masked robotic superhero right now. </p>
<p>“You couldn’t breathe,” Darkwing grumbled, gritting his teeth as he sat up. “I had to get you breathing first.”</p>
<p>Huey pushed him back down. “Don’t move! You’re bleeding!”</p>
<p>Darkwing groaned, but he didn’t move. “This is going to stain so bad…”</p>
<p>“It won’t matter if you die before you get out of here!” Huey stumbled over to his suit and pulled out the first-aid kit he kept in it. <em> A junior woodchuck is always prepared. </em> He needed to staunch the blood flow, clean up the injury…</p>
<p>Darkwing's eyes were slipping shut and Huey realized he didn't know how long he'd been bleeding for. "Darkwing! Don't fall asleep!"</p>
<p>The effort it took for him to keep his eyes open was clear on his face. He clutched the sides of his head, holding his eyes open manually. "Widge, I've exploded… A… Uh…" he paused for a few long moments. "...A thousand times, probably. I'm… I'm gonna be fine. I always get back up."</p>
<p>"No one can <em> always </em> get back up," Huey growled, finding a canteen of clean water in his suit and carrying it over. "You're not immortal! You'll die someday, just like the rest of us!” He opened the canteen and started pouring ice cold water on Darkwing's side.  “I'm not letting it happen on my watch."</p>
<p>He was almost more worried when Darkwing didn’t hiss in pain or complain anymore, even when being stung by a sudden stream of water. He seemed to be deep in thought now. Or his brain was so blank after bleeding out so long that he was just staring into space. </p>
<p>Huey lifted his coat and shirt, cringing at the way the blood stuck the fabric to the feathers. He tried to imagine Dewey and Louie making fun of him for being queasy. Maybe that would make him stop.</p>
<p>He grabbed a wad of gauze from the first aid kit and pressed it firmly to Darkwing's side, eliciting a sharp, pained grunt from him.</p>
<p>Good, he's still awake.</p>
<p>Huey was about to start cleaning the cut with rubbing alcohol when a noise (it almost sounded like a scream) from beyond the rocks around them startled them both. </p>
<p>Darkwing shot up to a sitting position, pain apparently forgotten, and he whispered something Huey couldn't make out. Something about gauze -?</p>
<p>Then the older hero immediately tried to stand up and run towards the noise. A disgusting <em> crack </em> from his crushed leg didn't even seem to stop him. </p>
<p>Huey tackled him, pushing him down hard. "You're bleeding!"</p>
<p>"I'm fine! Let go of me!" he shrieked, flailing. "I have to - Just let go of me!" </p>
<p>Huey pinned his arms behind his back and sat on him. Darkwing kept trying to shove him off, yelling at him until he seemed exhausted and his voice gave out. </p>
<p>"...Widgetling," he whispered hoarsely, and Huey held him down harder. "Get off of me before I <em> make </em>you." </p>
<p>Huey knew he was bluffing. He couldn't move, he'd only hurt himself more by screaming and trying to move, and his eyes were filled with a grim determination that was swiftly transitioning to hopelessness. </p>
<p>"...Quiverwing…" he whispered, going limp. Huey put two and two together, and it made six. </p>
<p>He was crying and screaming because it must have been Quiverwing who screamed. </p>
<p>But why would he freak out so much? </p>
<p>He couldn’t think about that now. He felt at his neck for a pulse. </p>
<p>...</p>
<p>It was there, but for how much longer?</p>
<hr/>
<p>“Widgey!” Gizmoduck called, using the tracker function in Widgetling’s suit to locate him. The suit wasn’t active, which meant Huey was out of it, but why and how? His heart pounded in his throat. “Widgetling!”</p>
<p>He swallowed, his mouth dry. Quiverwing shivered in his arms. </p>
<p>He needed to get out of here. If she was going into shock, or if she had a concussion, or if her ankle was broken - Well, no matter what, Quingy needed to get to the hospital. </p>
<p>But he wasn’t leaving without Widgetling. He wasn’t leaving without Darkwing.</p>
<p>He took a deep breath. “Hue -”</p>
<p>“Gizmoduck!” Huey’s voice called from somewhere close, and he was moving towards it at the highest speed he could go underground without being scared of causing another cave in.</p>
<p>“Widgey!” he drifted into the tunnel where he saw Huey, almost losing his balance and falling on his side. </p>
<p>Huey was on his knees in front of his suit, crushed, and his face was dimly illuminated by Darkwing’s flashlight. Quiverwing struggled in his arms, but he didn’t drop her. </p>
<p>Then he got uppercut right under the chin, his head flying backwards as Quiverwing kicked off his chest and rolled onto the ground. She shoved Huey and Gizmoduck adjusted his night vision and saw the lump in front of him that she grabbed the shirt of.</p>
<p>“...Wingy?” he whispered, leaning over.</p>
<p>“We gotta get to a hospital,” Huey whispered back, holding his beak where Quiverwing brutally pushed him.</p>
<p><em> “No!” </em> The cave felt like it shook again when Quiverwing yelled, her fists balled in Darkwing’s cape as she straddled his midriff. “You’re not <em> touching him! </em>”</p>
<p>Gizmoduck froze. Huey stopped breathing.</p>
<p>Quiverwing was gasping and sobbing out breaths, and Darkwing was still.</p>
<p>After a few moments, Gizmoduck rolled over and rested a hand on her shoulder. “Mija,” he murmured, but couldn’t pull forth anymore comforting words.</p>
<p>She shrugged violently, falling forward and pushing her face into Darkwing’s chest. “Darkwing… Da-Dark…” she sobbed. “Dad…”</p>
<p>For a few moments, Gizmoduck thought that she was so distressed over seeing a man mortally wounded that she was crying out for her father. Then Darkwing’s eyes fluttered and he lifted a hand, resting it on her back.</p>
<p>“‘M up,” he mumbled, almost too quiet to hear. </p>
<p>Quiverwing pulled backwards, eyes wide as she stared at his face. He gave her a tired, pained smile. </p>
<p>“You screamed,” he mumbled. “What happened?”</p>
<p>She laughed and sobbed, her shoulders shaking, and Darkwing started to force himself into a sitting position. “I fucked… Fucked up my leg.”</p>
<p>And Darkwing rested his chin on her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her firmly despite how wobbly and fragile he seemed. “Language, sweetheart.”</p>
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